The Kirkus Prize is one of the richest literary awards in the world, with a prize of $50,000 bestowed annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction and young readers’ literature. It was created to celebrate the 81 years of discerning, thoughtful criticism Kirkus Reviews has contributed to both the publishing industry and readers at large. Books that earned the Kirkus Star with publication dates between November 1, 2015, and October 31, 2016 (see FAQ for exceptions), are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize, and the winners will be selected on November 3, 2016, by an esteemed panel composed of nationally respected writers and highly regarded booksellers, librarians and Kirkus critics.

KIRKUS REVIEW

Two runaway teenagers go on a crime spree and get lost in a
backwoods region of the southern Appalachian Mountains in Thornhorn’s(I
Be the Christis, the Kid Beheaded, 2014, etc.) novel.

Thirteen-year-old Tizzy Polk’s father is a tyrannical preacher who’s repeatedly warned her about
boys like Matthew “Rebel Yell” Birdnell. The son of a pig farmer, Birdnell sees
no future for himself in the mountains and wants out of Cayuga Ridge in the
worst way—and when he steals his father’s ’49 Studebaker pickup, Tizzy,
searching for some kind of freedom, joins him with a little persuasion. With a
stolen gun, the two runaways commit a series of crimes, culminating in a
murder, and attempt to evade the law by driving up some backwoods roads that
lead to Riddle Top, a “great black crag with bristle hairs” that “gave up
sunlight like a jagged miser then quickly stole it back.” When they meet its
creepy inhabitants, they quickly realize that the scary stories about the dark
mountain are true. A blend of Southern gothic and hillbilly noir, this story is
utterly readable, in large part because of Thornhorn’s masterful use of
dialect, rich description, and immersive use of atmospherics. The power of this
story undeniably comes from the author’s darkly lyrical voice, and his sinister
reimagining of Appalachia virtually comes alive on the page: “One tiny shack
gave way to the next, each shack with its small barren field, desolate dead
cornrows littered by blackbirds and autumn leaf.” Even minor plot
inconsistencies and a relatively weak ending can’t detract from the overall power
of this story. Like the lovechild of William Faulkner and H.P. Lovecraft,
Thornhorn, with his unique narrative style and twisted insight into Southern
life, makes this novel unforgettable.

An unnerving literary experience, like finding a fiddleback spider on one’s shoe
or a copperhead snake coiled and ready to strike under one’s bed.

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